Donald can snatch the European Tour stroke average award from Els

The Volvo Masters is the climax to the season but only the cream of the Tour, the top 60, are invited to the £2.6m party at which there is no cut.

Money alone, though, can no longer guarantee the presence of the very top dogs of world golf and Ernie Els is again conspicuous by his absence having nailed the Order of Merit for the second year running.

The rest of the field, however, reads as a who's who of European golf, including England's Luke Donald, who can snatch the all-important Reuters Stats stroke average award from Els with a strong performance here.

Valderrama in Sotogrande, Southern Spain, ranks as one of the finest courses in the world, never mind the European Tour.

It has been a fitting stage for the season's climax since 1988 when the flagship Volvo Masters was first contested.

Advances in club and ball technology mean it is no longer quite the monster it was back in the late eighties but the par-72, 7,005-yard layout still offers one of the sternest tests on the circuit.

Jacobson clinched the Volvo Masters in 2003

From the first to the 18th, barely a hole on the 1997 Ryder Cup venue offers a straightforward birdie opportunity with heavy woodland, wickedly switchbacking fairways, water and tricky greens ensuring the entire elite field have to plot their way round.

Last year's event, won by Swede Fredrik Jacobson on 12-under-par after a play-off, featured only nine players under par.

EASIEST HOLE: The second of the par fives, the 540-yard seventh, gives at least some respite to the poor old pro battered by the first six holes.

According to the 2003 Reuters Stats, it is the biggest birdie opportunity on the course, last year surrendering 115 birdies, only 90 pars and 13 bogeys or worse.

There is little serious trouble from tee to green and two clean three-woods leave you with either a short chip or a couple of putts for a birdie four.

The Stats show that last year it averaged 4.49 shots a visit.

HARDEST HOLE: The dog-leg right, par-four 16th put paid to many a challenge in 2003, clawing back no less than 74 bogeys and 16 doubles against par.

Part of Jacobson's secret of success last year was the way he played this hole, finishing one-under there for the week after grabbing a birdie three on day one.

Trees guard the corner and only the perfectly faded, soaring drive will clear their branches to offer reward in the shape of a mid-iron to the green.

The fairway, though, slopes right-to-left and there is precious little landing area for the overhit tee-shot which can land in thickish rough left.

For most, the smart play is a couple of long irons - two or three irons - to the corner and then more of the same to the centre of the green.

Reuters Stats showed Jacobson's was one of just 15 birdies collected there all week with a wretched overall stroke average for a top class field of 4.41.

Information provided by Reuters Stats